Blue Eyes
by TygerEye
Summary: Okay, finally got around to writing this. MaraLuke, because there is no more perfect couple than them. Well, JainaJag is a close second. Anyhow, Luke is injured on a mission, and Mara tries to help him out…Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Blue Eyes 

By: TygerEye Antilles

                Okay, finally got around to writing this.  Mara/Luke, because there is no more perfect couple than them.  Well, Jaina/Jag is a close second.  Anyhow, Luke is injured on a mission, and Mara tries to help him out…Enjoy!

Chapter One:

                Mara Jade glanced down at the data reader in front of her and carefully compared the information on the small screen to what the leader of the organization—a man of average height, with dark hair, named Talon Karrde—was saying.  He was giving out assignments for the next standard month.  

She noticed that her workload was visible lighter than it normally would have been.  Mara had just closed a largely profitable deal with the Nimorodans, the dominating species on the planet of Darinil.  The lighter workload was Karrde's say of expressing his appreciation.  He'd actually offered her a full vacation, but Mara had turned it down.  Nevertheless, she could easily tell he'd taken some of her jobs and given them to his other employees, or even himself.  He was nothing if not a fair boss, but it gave her extra time, time she didn't feel she needed.  Mara felt more than slightly annoyed by this, but hid it behind the barest of smiles.  She tapped her fingernails absently against the Ardualian hardwood table.

Karrde asked if anyone had questions about their tentative schedules, and after a few seconds of silence, he dismissed them.  Mara stood with everyone else, but waited a minute for the businessmen and women, as well as the "fringe-types" to leave before walking to the door.

She felt something creeping along her back, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.  She glanced behind her, and then subtly placed her back to the wall.  This eerie feeling she usually associated with her "danger-sense," the sometimes seconds-early warning her Force sensitivity would give her before something happened.  Talon Karrde looked at her oddly.  He hadn't noticed anything, but his hand hovered near his unclipped holster.

She dimly heard Karrde ask her a question, but all her concentration was on utilizing the Force, searching for whatever had perceived as a danger to her.  Not finding anything initially, she reached out with her Force sense even further.

A searing pain rushed through her, and Mara doubled over.  The pain ran up her spine from the small of her back and expanded to the rest of her body.  Her brain felt as if someone had driven a vibroblade through it.  She thought she heard a moan come from her own lips, and she collapsed to her knees.  She couldn't figure out what happened, but it almost felt like it could have been a concussion bomb, or maybe some sort of ion cannon.  She knew what an ion blast felt like, and this was vaguely it.  She tried to breathe, but couldn't.  Something was stinging in her lungs.

"Mara, are you all right?  What happened?" Talon asked.  His face blurred, and Mara gasped, trying to force air into her oxygen-deprived lungs.  His face came back into focus, but she concentrated on the collar of his shirt until she felt more "concrete."  She looked up at his face, and her eyes met his pale blue one.  Pale blue eyes.

Blue eyes.

Luke Skywalker.

"Mara are you all right?  Can you hear me?  Nod if you can," he said, kneeling down on one knee next to her.  She dimly wondered when she ended up completely on the floor, but gave up on it.  She blinked and tried to sit up.

"No, just lay here for a second.  What happened?  Do I need to get a Med-droid in here?"

"I'm fine."  Her voice sounded like she felt-shaky and unsure.  Her body ached, and she took in another shaky breath, and tried to will her heartbeat to slow from its panicked pace.  She cleared her throat and sat up.  Karrde supported her until she leaned against the wall.  Her head was swimming, and she concentrated on a framed picture on the opposite wall.  It was an original print, by some obscure painter,  whose artworks had become desired after his death.  A Tatooine native.

                When she looked back at Talon, all she saw were his blue eyes.

                "Oh, gods," she breathed.  What trouble had Luke gotten himself into?

                "Mara, what happened?" Talon asked, the worry beginning to either subside or being better hidden.

                "Luke," she whispered, barely audible to her own ears.  "Skywalker," she said, louder, and Karrde's eyebrows lifted fractionally.

                "Skywalker?  What does the Jedi Master…the Force.  Mara, tell me what happened."

                "Skywalker's been hurt."

                "Physically or emotionally?"

                A part of Mara's mind reminded her of the anguished tones Luke's Force presence projected after the Callista incident.

                "Physical."

                "Good.  Well, not good, but you understand.  Not another Callista disaster."

                Mara glanced sharply at him, and Talon spread his hands out, palms skyward, in a silent apology.  Mara wasn't quite sure what Karrde was apologizing for.

                Talon had seen the cold hatred in her eyes for the woman whose name he'd mentioned, hence his apologetic gesture.

                "There was an ion cannon," she continued.  "Yeah, I know how that feels.  They're going to have to reconstruct all his neurological paths from his brain."  She closed her eyes partway.  "Shrapnel.  He was on the ground.  In his ship."

                "He was still on the ground?  Mara, the shrapnel could have come from something else."  At a glare from his associate, he shrugged.  "Fine.  Skywalker was in a ship.  Do you know where?"

                "Close by.  Not Yavin 4, or I'm sure his feelings would have been accented by their panic.  His little Academy.  He's not so far out on the Outer Rim.  Somewhere closer."

                "Interesting.  I wonder what mission Skywalker was on.  He _is_ still alive, I assume?"

                "Yes.  He's not feeling well, though.  I'm surprised he's alive.  His X-wing kept taking hits after the initial ion bursts."

                "I haven't heard anything about the New Rep sending him on a mission…"  This fact seemed to perturb the information broker and smuggler chief.  "Why didn't he eject?"

                "First ion blast disabled ejection seat."

                "And you got all this from a few seconds?  How did you know this?  I mean, I know you Jedi can all feel each other, but this is pretty detailed…"

                "I don't know why I felt so this so detailed…I'll ask him when I see him."

                "I can get Saladi tracing his ship.  We can find out where's he been and where his is."

                "No," Mara said.  Something bugged her about what she'd felt…that was it.  His unfamiliar ship.  It was an X-wing, but not his.  It was too new, and had no astromech droid.

                "Won't work," she said.  "Artoo wasn't there.  It was a new X-wing, no droid port."

                "Skywalker actually went somewhere without his astromech?" Karrde asked, surprise evident in his voice.

                "Artoo is getting his own reputation.  How many blond pilots talk to their blue and silver outdated astromech droids?  Artoos's recognizable when he's with Skywalker.  Makes bringing the droid a liability."

                "Do you know…"  His words trailed off as Mara's eyes got a faraway look in them.

                "They found him."  Her voice caught in her throat.  "He's trying to hide…no, he's pulling his _lightsaber_ out?  Why in all the hells did he bring his lightsaber if he was traveling incognito?"

                Karrde remained silent, and waited for her to finish.

                "He's turning it on, oh gods, it hurts for him to even do just that.  He's so weak…it's on.  I can see all around…still in his X-wing, if you can call it that.  It's a pile of rubble, and spare parts.  It is completely totaled.  The men are coming closer.  I don't think they noticed him to begin with, but they see him now.  Damn you, Skywalker.  Have you no brains?"  Her tirade sounded tired.  Talon noticed what he thought was fear on her face, but it quickly turned into relief.  "They found him."

                "They who?"

                "Antilles.  Some other Rogue.  What the hell would they send the flyboys out that they needed the Jedi Master for as well?"

                "I don't know, but since they've found him, he'll have the best care the Republic can give him.  After all, his Academy's only half-trained.  They still need him."

                "The Academy isn't the only ones who need him."  Talon glanced at her curiously.  "I mean, the Republic needs their Jedi Master, their weapon.  They send him on these missions, and he usually comes back, able to heal from nearly anything, things that would kill other normal guys."

                Talon put his hand on her shoulder.  "You want that vacation now, Mara?"

                She looked up at him.  "Yeah.  A short one."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

_                Disclaimer:  (Since I forgot one on the first chapter)  None of these characters belong to me.  Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, and the wonderful Han Solo belong to the beloved god of the Star Wars fans.  Mara Jade and Talon Karrde, as well as Ghent, and the Solo terrors belong to the almighty Timothy Zahn.  The Jedi/Rogue Corran Horn belongs to Mike A. Stackpole.  The others I mention belong to others, but I don't feel like listing them all here._

                Blue lightning raced over the cockpit of the X-wing, and Luke was forcibly shoved back into the pilot's couch as the systems failed and his shields shut down as another red-tinged energy blast sliced through the metal of his starboard S-foil.  He struggled at his safety restraints, trying to free himself from his dead ship.  He wouldn't be able to get off the planet with this starfighter.  He brushed his hair—too long for his taste, but fitting for his identity—away, and tried to push the hatch release, to get out of the X-wing, but it wouldn't budge.  He summoned the Force, and the cockpit hatch exploded into the air and crashed to the durasteel hangar floor, as another green energy bolt jostled the ship, and was closely followed by another ion cannon blast.  Luke's squadron hadn't even managed to get off the ground, and they were being bombarded by the battle cruisers that had appeared around the planet just minutes before.  The largest, a Corellian transport, had begun spewing smaller snubfighters immediately, and they all came in at a dead course for the docking hangar that Luke's squadron inhabited.  By the time Luke managed to reach his snubfighter, two of the battered but new X-wings had been reduced to little more than scrap metal.

                Luke pulled himself from the ship, and he ducked underneath his ship.  He waited for a momentary lapse before running for cover on the other side of the hangar, where he would have access to the rest of the ship dock.  He spared a moment to stretch out with the Force, searching for any Force-sensitives, someone he could reach, to find help for him and the other pilots. He touched a few, weaker than he was, and then found a bright spot, partially dimmed, as if the person tried to hide, or shield themselves.  He recognized Mara Jade's Force presence immediately.

                He didn't manage to break contact with her before the battered ship, that oddly reminded him of a New Republic Y-wing coupled with some flying disaster, flew over again, closer than before.  Luke could feel the strong blast of air from the engines as it flew by.  Then, a split second later, he saw the blue energy bolt racing through the air towards him and the remainder of his X-wing.  He tried to run, momentary panic overriding his common sense, before realizing he'd never make it out of the range of the ion bolt.  He concreted his presence with the aid of the Force, and then reached out, pulling in all the energy that spilled over from his dilapidated starfighter.  His body screamed in protest, and Luke had a second to wish that he would have instead had one of his students, Corran Horn, his powers, the ability to pull in that much energy, with little damage to himself.  Luke knew that he was in trouble: more energy kept coming in after he knew he could hold it.  He could feel his body burning, and he collapsed.  He knew he hadn't even taken in a quarter of the power, and yet he couldn't move.  His flight suit, unadorned with any patches or insignias, was burnt, and in places, completely burned away.

                He picked his head up, blood running down into his eyes, giving everywhere around him a red tint.  Not thinking he could move his head, he tried to stretch out to the Force, trying to attain a hold on the energy that life itself produced.  He let a tendril find his lightsaber, and yanked it free of the pouch he'd hidden it in.  Even a cursory glance would tell the viewer that it was indeed the weapon of a Jedi, but Luke knew he'd be able to utilize the Force to alter the memories of the person or people who saw it.  Now, he knew it was good that he'd brought it.  He could sense the other pilots, his own pilots, crawling or running from their destroyed ships, and he also knew Wedge Antilles, one of his friends, was with them.  Even Myn Donos, another member of the Rogues, and a lesser noticeable one at that, was a part of Luke's supposed dead-end squadron.  Luke had wished that Corran Horn would have been able to come along, but Corran and the rest of the Rogues were on another mission.

                He knew he'd be overlooked, unseen with all the hot metal around him, and so he gripped his saber tightly between both hands.  His body barely allowed him that.  Luke didn't even want to think how close he was to actually becoming a part of the Force, but he reminded himself, _A Jedi does not know pain.  He used his mind to flip on his saber, and its green-white blade burned through two layers of metal above him, shorting circuits and wires as it went, and then its eerie green light illuminated the area around Luke.  He felt more than saw Wedge turn towards it, and yell to Myn, to get him over and help._

                As the two Rogues struggled and pulled the large piece of sheet durasteel, Luke felt something he hadn't realized was in his leg being pulled out, and he dimly saw the blood-stained metal being pulled out, as the world swam around him and faded out…

                Mara jolted upright.  She was in one of the beds at Karrde's base, but the sheets were all on the floor and even then she was still covered in sweat.  Her leg ached, as if…as if a piece of metal had been pulled from it.  She shivered in the sudden chill in the room, and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.  She felt like she had been there, right there next to him, the entire time.  She felt the ion cannon, everything.  She hadn't even known who Myn Donos was until she heard Luke's thoughts, his recognition of the two Rogues coming to help him.

                She knew that they would get him to a medcenter, the closest one possible, and get him the best help.  His leg would heal quickly, with his Force healing abilities, and the aid of a bacta tank.  But the ion blasts screwed up his brain, and…all the damage.  It might be too much for even bacta to heal.

                But now was not the time to worry about that.  Luke would receive the best care in the entire galaxy, Mara knew.  She knew it.  Luke would be all right, he'd live to see his Jedi students become Knights, and that he'd go on another foolish and suicidal mission like this one.  Comforted by that thought, she laid back down on her bed, and closed her eyes.

                Talon Karrde noticed a difference in his employee almost immediately.  Her eyes had darker circles around them, and he knew that she'd been losing sleep.  He assumed that it was just recurring nightmares of Luke's pain; after all, Mara had said she'd felt his pain, like it had happened to her.  Maybe whenever she closed her eyes, all she could see was what she'd felt from him.  That was probably it.

                Mara always claimed she was not Jedi, but if she wasn't, then why did she feel his pain so acutely?  She didn't seem to have an answer for that either.  Her guess was that she was searching through the Force, and maybe Luke was projecting, without knowing.  He may be the only living Jedi Master, but things like that could happen.  Mara said that on several things, she still knew more than he did, and that he was still learning about the Jedi.  Anyhow, he decided to try and brush it off, and get his slicers into Coruscant's computer databases, to find where the Jedi Master had been sent this time, or where Wedge Antilles would be, along with at least one other Rogue pilot.  Ghent had been saved the job of finding where Luke was now.  According to Mara, Luke had been severely damaged by ion bolts, therefore, wherever the Rebellion hero would be sent would have to have an extensive rehabilitation area for victims like him, as well as a renowned neurological center.  Basically, somewhere on Coruscant.  But there were many medcenters like that on the planet of Coruscant.  There were at least seven in the immediate vicinity of the Imperial Palace itself.

                And would the New Republic hide their Jedi hero below the surface, on a little-known medcenter catering specifically to diplomats and such, like the sludgenews reporters always claimed they found the location to?  Would they place him in one of their famous medcenters immediately near the Palace, so the Chief of State and her husband, as well as their children, wouldn't have to go as far to visit Skywalker?  Would he be even on planet?  They had medical ships, converted Mon Calamari cruisers, that could probably be a good place to hide him, until he healed.  Mara was convinced that he was severely hurt, but she wasn't exactly sure how badly.

                So it was up to the young Ghent to find Skywalker, and he was up to the challenge.

                The scrawny youth seated himself in front of all his computers that he would use for slicing, and cracked his knuckles before typing in his own passwords.  Karrde noticed that the much younger man had at least five passwords to get in, and according to Ghent, no override code.  If someone wanted into his database, they had to make it through all his security measures.  Of course, there was a back door, but as soon as that hidden way was used, all the vital codes and information would simply disappear, completely deleted.

                Karrde watched his employee for a few minutes, but then turned to walk back to his office.  He glanced at his wrist chronometer, and had to stifle a yawn as soon as he realized most sentient beings on this planet would have already been asleep for several hours.  And Ghent was only getting started.  Talon typed in his own code on the keypad and the door slid soundlessly open.  He walked in and commanded the lights on to a dim setting.  He would only be here for a minute, to completely lock up and then head to his apartment.  He grabbed some papers from a drawer in his desk and stuffed them into a briefcase, locked the briefcase, and pocketed the old fashioned key, and then slipped the security lock onto the case.  He turned around, suddenly realizing he wasn't the only being in the room.

                Mara sat on his couch, trying at a casual posture, but Talon noticed the tension overriding all her muscles.  The dim light glinted off the gold in her hair, and darkened the red.  She stood up, seemingly without effort, still with her dancer's grace.  He could tell her sleeplessness was taking its toll on her body, though.  He also noticed that his blaster was out in his hand, tracking for the danger he thought he'd seen.  Holstering the BlasTech, he placed his briefcase back on the desk.

                "How did you get in?" he asked.  The door had been locked automatically when he left earlier.

                "This place is a converted Imperial Base," was her answer.  

Her eyes seemed to be not so vibrant a green, he noticed.  "What is it you need, Mara?" he asked.

"I'm sorry to keep you up, but I know that Skywalker is on Coruscant, in a MedCenter just south of the Palace."

"How do you know?  Oh, of course.  The Force.  Did Skywalker contact you?"

She shook her head.  "I had a –a vision."

"A vision?  Like the ones Skywalker gets?"

"Yeah, and other Jedi as well.  Skywalker's injuries…they're really serious.  Burned extensively, they can barely even work on his brain until his body heals somewhat.  They keep putting him in bacta, but his heart stops, and they have to take him out.  The Force is healing him, slowly but surely."

"That _is_ serious.  You mean you don't think he'll make it?" He'd learned long ago, with both Skywalker and Jade to trust Jedi visions.  They tended to be correct more often than not.

"Talon, the only thing keeping him alive is a machine.  A damned _machine_!"  She took a deep breath.  "But I know I can help him.  I know it."

"But you can't do that from a distance," he guessed.  At her affirmative nod, he added, "So you want me to bring you to Coruscant?"

"Yes.  But no one can know I went there."

"You mean you're going to break into whatever MedCenter Skywalker is in, and then get into his room, undetected?  They're probably have the place guarded, Mara."

"I know, but I don't want anyone to know I was there."

"I'll see what I can do, but I am coming with you."

"Of course."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 

                Mara glared at the stars streaking by the view port, willing the ship to move faster.  It wasn't her beloved _Jade's Fire_, but instead one of Karrde's lesser known ships, the _Katana,_ under the assumed name of the _Skifter_.  The ship's false name referred to the cheater's card in the game of saabac.  Whenever someone tapped the corner, it changes face value.  Mara like the name, but still didn't like leaving without her _Fire._  However, the _Fire_ was fairly recognizable, and being recognized was not what she wanted.

                Mara needed to be on planet and off again with the least amount of notice possible.  She knew what she had to do, what the visions pushed her to acknowledge.

                Someone placed their hand on her right shoulder, and had it been anyone else but Talon Karrde, she would have shrugged their hand off or worse.  But since Talon was the only man onboard who would come near her voluntarily, she allowed him to stay there.  Upon his insistence on coming along, she had an idea that his reasons were more to the fact that he thought she would finish the Jedi Master off, for endangering his life yet again, for no good reason.  Jade had nearly beaten sense into the Jedi Master on several occasions, for that exact reason.

                "Halanari says we have eight hours until we reach Coruscant.  I hope that the Republic would bring Skywalker there.  If he's in as bad shape as you think—"

                "As I _know,_" Mara corrected sharply.  "I felt him dying."

                "Are you sure he's still alive, Mara?" he asked softly.

                "I would have felt his death," she answered, sure of herself.

                Karrde made sure he kept his tone neutral, although he just wanted to sigh in frustration.  The Force.  Of all people, his second-in-command had to be a Jedi, weighed down with "feeling" every gods-damned thing that happened in the galaxy.  Her intuition was on several occasions what saved him and his crew, but when it didn't help him or his crew…she had said a long while ago that it wasn't something she could just turn on and off when needed.  Too bad she couldn't.  "But I thought you weren't Jedi."

                "I'm not, but I'm Force-sensitive, as well as a …a friend of Skywalker's."

                _If you're his friend, then at least call him by his first name, for Force's sake._  "Well, like I said, eight standard hours.  You might want to get some sleep."

                Mara felt the ship lurch out of hyperspace, and she pulled herself off the floor.  Sometime during her sleep, she must have fallen off the bunk.  Standing up, she barely ran a hand through her hair—to get it out of her face—before running out of the room.  Typically, all the women shared a bunk room, as did the men, but Talon had made sure Mara would have her won room, small, but her won.  She found immediately where Talon was—the comm station.  She impatiently waited outside the room until he finished and then she walked in.  His back was to her, but he still greeted her by name, seeming to know who would come find him.

                "Why have we come out of hyperspace, Karrde?  I know we're at least two or three hours off."

                "I had to make a comm call, and we can't in light speed.  I also guessed you'd enjoy a small break."

                "We have to get to Coruscant as soon as possible."

                "It doesn't matter if we break records to get to Coruscant, Mara.  If we don't have a plan, it'll only take more time."

                Mara hated to be chastised, but she was proud that her answer showed none of her frustration.  "What is your plan, then?" she asked, resisting the urge to throw her hands up and yell at him.

                "I have an informant, a guard, on duty at the Imperial Palace.  He also acts as bodyguard for visiting functionaries, for the few who don't bring along their won.  He also accompanies well-known scientists and such."

                Mara waited for him to continue.

                "I inquired of him if he knew about Skywalker's hospitalization.  It turns out most of the Republic guards, at least the higher ranking ones, like my friend, know not only where he is, but at least one of them is in the room with Skywalker at all times."

                "And your friend, has he guarded Skywalker?"

                "Yes."

                "And?"

                "With little effort on Ghent's part, we're certain my friend will be guarding Skywalker as soon as we get in."

  


                "So immediately we can get into the MedCenter?"

                "Basically, yes.  The guard, by the name of Cal, Cal Tanalav.  Short, a little taller than you, with black hair and pale green eyes.  He's lived on Coruscant all his life, and has the clipped accent of an Imperial and everything."

                "And the reason we've stopped is so Ghent can hack into the Coruscant Republic's database and change around schedules?"

                "Yes.  That and I needed to confirm all this with Cal."

                "And your friend will do as I tell him?"  
                "Depends," Talon said cautiously.  "Like what?"

                "I'll need total privacy with Skywalker.  I don't want some guy staring at me the whole time."

                "Since you're trying to heal Skywalker, and not kill him," _At least not yet,_ "I'm sure Cal won't have much of a problem with that."

                "Good.  As soon as we land, I'll be ready."

                The descent to Coruscant's surface was slower than usual, and the only docking area available was an overpriced skyhook.  Karrde was the first off the ship, wearing a mechanic's dirty, greasy choice of clothes.  Mara followed, her hair pulled back in a loose braid, and folded under, but the main difference was the color.  She had lightened all the red to a dull golden gleam.  She wore a flight suit, one she could easily slip out of if necessary to change clothes.  She wore a navy blue pilot jacket over it, and black lace-up boots.  Karrde had mentioned maybe her going in the MedCenter in the guise of a Republic guard, and everything she wore could be easily discarded and change her description almost immediately.

                Karrde hailed a skycab and pulled his cap further over his eyes.  He didn't usually wear hats, but he was easily recognizable, and he didn't want that right now.

                Mara carried her blaster loosely around her waist, as well as he did, knowing that his would be confiscated as soon as he entered the MedCenter, but he noticed that she had left her lightsaber behind.  Blasters were commonplace, lightsabers a little harder to come by.  Karrde opened the skycab's door, and told the Sullustan driver that he and the captain needed to go to a small café near the Imperial Palace.  Mara slid into the seat next to Karrde and slammed the cab's door behind her.  She brushed her hair back over her shoulder, and stared out the side of the skycab window at Coruscant around them.  He turned towards the other window.

                "How much longer will—" Mara cut her own question off.  Karrde glanced over at her, only to see her still staring at the window, but shaking. Visibly shaking.

                "Arica?" he asked.  She didn't turn around.  "Hey, Arica, come on, Capt'n.  What happened?"

                After what seemed a short eternity, Mara turned back to him.  Her face was pale, her eyes wide.

                "I can't feel him, anymore," she whispered.  He had to lean close to hear her.

                "You mean he's dead?"

                "I don't know…it was so odd.  One moment he was there, dim, but alive, and then it all just disappeared."

                "He's dead?' Talon repeated.

                "When…when my Master died, it felt like a star going supernova, and then fading.  Luke…just ceased to exist.  I was cut off from him."  She raised her voice so that cab driver could hear her.  "Press the pedal all the way.  We must get there immediately."

                "Mara, if he's dead…" His voice was as soft as hers had been.

                "I don't know if he is."

                "But I thought you said—"

                "He might be dead, but I don't see Skywalker, that strong a Force presence, but disappearing like that."  Even as she said that, she could hear the hopeful tone in her own voice, and she hated it.  Skywalker _was_ alive, damn it, he _had_ to be alive!

                Talon felt a lurch as the Sullustan sped the skycab, and he managed not to grab for his safety restraints.

                As soon as the skycab stopped, Talon passed a few extra credits up to the driver, and he climbed out.  Mara was already glancing around, and Talon grabbed her arm.

                "This way," he muttered.  The _Corsuca Dusk_ was a small tapcafé, a block from the Palace, and the place where Cal Tanolav was to meet them.  They hadn't even taken their seats when Cal walked up.

                "This way," he said, still dressed in his full uniform.  Mara watched him carefully, affecting a nonchalant attitude until they were away from the café, then she turned on the man.

                "What happened?" she demanded.

                Cal seemed to be flustered.  "You're lucky I managed to make it out here, lady.  It'll be a pain in the ass to get back in that MedCenter."  Mara noticed the vague Imperial crisp accent, but it had dulled from years away from Imperial citizens.  He nodded towards Talon.  "If it weren't for my buddy here, I wouldn't bring you within fifty meters of the Jedi."

                "Is he still alive, though, Cal?" Talon asked.

                "Yeah, they were transferring him, and my buddy, one of my fellow Guards, he was watching, when a doctor came by, checking the Jedi's chart and all, then he stabbed the Jedi in the neck, with some injection."

                "_What_?!  Didn't your friend stop them?  You all are Republic Guards, for gods' sakes!"  Mara's face didn't betray her feelings—only her words and the tight rein she kept over them.  As far as any casual viewer could see, they were having a normal conversation.

                "He thought the doc was a real doctor.  All we know is Skywalker went into convulsions.  They tried to give him drugs to stop the seizures, but too much and he'd never heal.  The real docs are trying to figure out what was in the injection.  Some type of natural something-or-other.  His sister, Organa Solo, she's saying she can't feel her brother at all."

                "I must be allowed to see him," Mara said, her tone almost empty.

                "No one's allowed in there right now.  They've just stabilized him, but like I told Karrde here, I _might_ be able to get you in."

                "You _will_ get me in."

                "That's what I said.  I'll try."

                "You _will_."  With that even Talon felt a strange urging to do what she said.  He brushed it away.

                "I will," Cal said, his voice as empty as Mara's.  He shook his head.  "Hey, what are we waiting around for?  We've got to get in there."

                "Good," Mara said.  Talon glanced over at his associate, and he could have sworn something had happened, but…no.  Impossible.  "Come on, Talon.  Let's not keep the Jedi Master waiting."


	4. Chapter 4

_Blue Eyes_ CHAPTER 4 

                The closer they got to the MedCenter, the more chaotic crowds they encountered.  Someone must have leaked the story of the Jedi's injuries, because everyone was talking about the fallen Jedi Master.  Speculations were formed on the identity of the human doctor who'd injected Skywalker.  Talon noticed a wall panel stowing the visage of a well-known (but horribly stuck-up) professor of "Planetary Customs" at the University on Coruscant.  The professor had labeled Luke's attacker as a Cosmic Balance follower, and that the injection would probably kill the already weakened Jedi.  On another panel, a woman agreed with the distinguished professor, but added that not all Cosmic Balance followers were like this: therefore, the man was a Cosmic Balance extremist.  Yet another professor suggested the possibility of another, larger and more noticeable attack by the extremists.

                Although it gave good publicity to the University on Coruscant, it also gave not-so-good publicity to Skywalker's MedCenter.  Everyone knew where the Jedi Master was now.

                They weren't even able to get close to the door of the Center, and even Cal, fully dressed in his uniform, couldn't get any closer because of the crowd.  Karrde wasn't sure exactly what the crowd wanted—Skywalker alive or Skywalker dead—but he knew that the Guards must have been doubled, at least, and with weapons very visible.

                Cal glanced around nervously, at the people surrounding the three, and then looked at Karrde.

                "I didn't know," the Guardsman said.  "I don't know how to get in with this crowd."

                "Surely there's a back door, delivery place, Cal?" Karrde asked.  Mara remained silent, cautiously watching those around her, although her expression showed she didn't see anyone at all.  Searching through the Force for Skywalker, perhaps?  He wasn't sure, but he finally pulled on her arm, and she turned her bright-green gaze to him

                "His sister isn't there," she said, just loud enough for him to hear her over the crowd.  "I doubt Solo is there, either."

                "Mara, do you know a back way?  I don't think we'll get in there this way."  Karrde was talking about secret entrances the Emperor loved to build.  If anyone knew, it would be the former Emperor's Hand.

                "This place is recently built.  It wasn't here when the Emperor was, or there would certainly be another way."

                Karrde felt a slow grin grow on his face, despite the frustration he'd just been feeling.  "I know…" he said, a plan forming.  "Cal, we need a disturbance."

                "And this isn't enough of one?" the Guardsman asked, gesturing wildly around at the crowd, all who ignored him.

                "We can use them.  First, show Mara and I to the back entrance.  Mara, how long do you need for whatever you want to do?"

                "Not long."

                "Five minutes?"

                "Five minutes?" Mara repeated.  "I'm not sure.  Maybe.  Probably."

                "Good, because that might be all you'll have.  Come on," he said, following the Guard.

                Cal had led them away from the crowd and around a long way to the back of the large MedCenter.  As per Karrde's instructions, he told Mara exactly where to find Skywalker, although he warned her that they might have moved the Jedi.  Karrde quickly told him what to do, and then he set the Guard on his way.  Mara noticed that Cal was several shades paler than when she had first met the guy.  He was probably one of those who relied on carrying a loaded blaster as a shield against any would-be assassins.  Karrde should have gotten an Intelligence-type for this.  But they'd make do with what they had.

                Karrde followed Mara, through the back door, and then Mara snuck into a small room.  She made a deft move with her hand, and Karrde suspected she was using the Force for something, until he realized they'd come into a worker's break room.  All three men were talking to each other, and seemed not to even acknowledge their presence.  Karrde wanted to ask her about it, but she cut off his question with a curt shake of her head.  She pulled a uniform from the closet, and handed it to Karrde.  He pulled it on over his own clothes, and it looked like he'd gained quite a bit of weight.  As long as he wasn't caught, no one should recognize him.

                Mara stood behind Karrde, and pushed him forwards, and he walked ahead, doing his best not to glance back at her.  His blaster was still holstered, and _inside_ his worker's uniform, causing an uncomfortable lump on his side.  If anyone came up to him, he'd never get his blaster out in time.  He wondered whether Mara had planned it that way or not, but he was finding himself more and more nervous, and if anyone came up to him he might just make a grab for his weapon.

                Yet several people walked by, and they just ignored him and the blonde behind him, like they didn't see the two.  Slowly he grew braver, and he swore to never do something like this again.  He must have aged at least five years, if not more, just hoping that no one saw them.  His mind began to think ahead, and wonder about their entrance.  No guards had been there, save for one older man who Mara had knocked out before he even reached his worn blaster.  That man would wake up with a headache, and probably no knowledge of his attacker, he guessed.  Mara hadn't bothered to try and lessen the blow that took him down.  If he remembered anything though, Karrde would be very surprised.  A thought came to his mind—Mara was using Force powers.  She usually hid this Force sensitivity, but she had been using the Force almost consistently since they reached Coruscant.  To find Skywalker, to make Cal determined to find a way into the MedCenter rather than to just "try" (Karrde had guessed that that had been a Force prodding from Mara), and to search for Organa Solo, and now probably to cloud or delete memories of people seeing her and himself.

                Finally he noticed he didn't feel Mara pushing him forward, and people now gave him slightly curious glances.  He looked around, and tried to familiarize himself with the place.  It was like many Medical centers he'd seen, and if so, then there would be an information terminal somewhere around here, and there he'd be able to find Skywalker's room.  Silently, he wished Mara luck, and decided to check on Cal's progress.

                Mara knew Talon didn't notice her leave, and she walked quickly away from him.  Skywalker was this way; they had moved him from where Cal had said he'd been.  She found him easily; a locked door, no windows, and a nice modern security system.  She didn't know the code, but she knew she could disable it with a little effort, but time she didn't have.  She had to do this quickly.

                She concentrated briefly, and knew that a guard was in the room with Skywalker, a very alert guard.  She wouldn't be able to convince him to open the door, or he'd realize it and call in for a security team.  But maybe…she gently probed his mind, and found his attention was on the HoloNet, which he had turned on, and was watching news.  She could practically see everything happening on the three-dimensional device.

                It seemed Cal's "diversion" had worked.  Even more people crowded around the Medical Center than before, and they completely surrounded it.  The exit she and Karrde had used was completely useless now.

                According to a Guardsman, whose name had been kept anonymous, but Mara recognized as Cal,  had seen several odd persons attempt to enter the building.  He tried to stop them, but one of them attacked his partner and himself, some blonde-haired hired gun of some sort.  His elder partner was still unconscious, and he'd just woken up.  He guessed they were Cosmic Balance extremists.

                Mara knew she didn't have much time.  She jabbed into the Guard's mind, causing the man to double over in pain.  He didn't know what was happening, and he tried to reach his comlink, but Mara tore it from his hand.  The Guard reached for the door, opening it, and then slumping to the ground as Mara brought her hand down sharply against the back of his neck.  He was out cold, and the door was now open, with no security violations.

                Mara pulled his body back into the room and shut the door behind her.  The HoloNet was on, and rather loud.  The man had had no consideration for the other man in the room.  Either that, or he doubted Luke would wake up at all.  And now looking at the Jedi Master, she understood why.

                His skin was extremely pale, almost the same shade as the sanitized white sheets he lay on.  Dark purple circles surrounded his eyes, and she could see dark bruising disappear under the one clean sheet that covered him.  His hands laid limply by his body, the way the nurses and meddroids tended to like to do, on top of the sheet, and on the sides of his body.  He truly looked awful.  She wasn't surprised that they had trouble, probably deciding where to start.  He was covered with burns, some lightly, others blistering, and the really severe ones were covered with bandages.  He looked like he would pass for someone over fifty, but he was only twenty-seven.  Twenty-seven, and the Republic still constantly sent him on these damnable missions.  It was like they were trying to kill him.

                She walked over to his side, and she could barely even seen him breathing.  In fact, the only thing that assured her that he was indeed still alive was the soft mechanic beeping coming from the machine attached to his heart.  He wasn't the worse shape she'd seen bodies in, but the fact that it was him…that changed things.  And she seldom saw bodies that were _alive _in this condition.  She found that she didn't want to get any closer to him, because if she saw him up close, then later she wouldn't be able to deny that this was him.  But she pushed these fears and thoughts to the back of her mind, and sat down on the chair next to his bed.  She reached out and gripped his hand between both of hers.  His skin felt cold to the touch.  She suppressed a shudder, but stretched out with the Force, to try and identify the body on the bed next to her.

                It was faint, but still there.  Yes, this was what she had sensed before.  That small hope, that she had guessed had been sheer stupid optimism on her part.  No, his Force presence was still there, just hidden.  It was like the injection he'd been given somehow pushed it down, not away.  Tried to capture it, so the Force couldn't help the Jedi Master.

                She glanced up at the HoloNet projection, and knew she didn't have much time left.


	5. Chapter 5

Blue Eyes: 

_By: Tygereye Antilles_

CHAPTER 5 

                The holonet projection showed reinforcements arriving at the MedCenter quickly, and pushing the crowd back, although the crowd pushed forward even harder.  It seemed the New Republic was taking this threat on their Jedi hero seriously.  Mara was just surprised that it had taken them this long.

                She turned back to the man in front of her, and gripped his hand harder.  She really didn't think that the Cosmic Balance bastard who'd given him the drugs in the first place.  Had it not been for that guy,  then Luke would have a better chance at healing himself, rather than relying on machines.  She took a deep breath, and leaned closer to him.  He probably wasn't even aware she was there, regardless of what they say about people in comas.  He was so far gone, and his Force presence was locked away inside him, she doubted he'd be able to release it.

                She knew she didn't have much time, but she also couldn't figure out what to do.  Maybe she could somehow pull his Force presence free?  But how to do that?

                She could still feel his Force essence, it was just buried.  Perhaps by trying to get a hold of it, she could pull it free.  She closed her eyes, and with a little effort, she could see around her as if her eyes were still open.  She focused her own energy, which she saw as a greenish light, into Skywalker's dull blue, and searched for the glowing place in him, where his Force was captured.  She couldn't figure out how anyone could "capture" the very thing that made up life, and this minute distraction made her lose contact.  She frowned and dug deeper, searching for _him_ inside the prone and battered body.

                She could almost touch it, it seemed, and she tried to pull it, but it wouldn't move.  Then she felt something encouraging—his Force presence seemed to acknowledge her, but then it shifted away, concentrating on something else.  With these new ethereal eyes, she looked around, and could feel aggressive bodies nearby.  Hostile people, and their hatred and hostility seemed to be directed to Luke.  He flinched, and she felt herself being pulled away.

                She opened her eyes, and Luke was still unconscious.  It was like nothing had happened  He was as distant as before, but she knew that those with the hostile and malicious intent were coming closer.  

                Her first try, and her second, had failed.  Could she save the Jedi Master at all?  For the first time, she could feel her eyes begin to well up.  She didn't know.

                Talon Karrde found a terminal quickly enough, but almost immediately it went blank, and refused to come back up.  He knew something was wrong, and he hoped to all the gods that Jade had not been discovered.  He decided to walk back to where he'd taken the worker's uniform.  Maybe he'd be able to get out alive yet.  

                And then the lights flickered, and seemed to grow brighter, and he glanced around and found a wall panel.

                UNKNOWN HOSTILES IN MEDCENTER…UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OF TERMINALS IN C12, C15, AND D 25…

                He hadn't been anywhere near there.  Someone else must have decided now would be the perfect time to hack into the MedCenter's computers.  Then a thought crossed his mind.  He found a holographic map to support his theory.

                C12 and C15 were the rooms Skywalker had been in prior to now.  D25 was a bacta room.  One Skywalker had been in.

                Coincidence?  Luke Skywalker always said there was no such a thing as coincidence…

                "Han, Han wake up!" Leia Organa Solo nearly shouted.  She'd fallen asleep on the nerf-hide sofa when she felt her brother's Force sense flare up.  She nudged her husband none-too-gently, and he opened his eyes and yawned.  She could sympathize.  They'd both spent countless hours by Luke's side since Wedge Antilles had brought her brother back, and they hadn't wanted to leave until the meddroid promised Luke was stable and threatened to have them sedated unless they rested on their own.  So now they were at their apartment, the kids asleep in their room, and Winter nearby.

                "What is it, sweetheart?" the former general asked.  

                Leia shook her head.  "Luke.  Something happened.  I can't sense him."

                This seemed to wake Han.  "You can't sense him?  You don't mean…"

                "No, he's alive, but something's strange.  I think someone's there with him, but I don't know who."

                "Well, okay.  Go ahead and take a real quick shower, change your clothes—since I doubt you have since Luke landed—and we'll head over to the Center."

                Leia nodded.  "Fine.  I'll be out in just a minute."  She walked over to their bedroom.  Han sighed and rubbed his eyes, and flipped on the holonet as he headed over to the kitchenette to grab a cup of caf.  He needed some help in waking up.

                "Maybe they'll have the smashball finals on…" he muttered.  He knew Leia needed some time to herself, because the entire Luke-thing had completely worn her out.  They would go immediately to Luke after she took her shower.  He glanced back at the holonet projection, and he felt his jaw drop.

                "Leia, get in here!"

                Leia rushed out of the refresher in only a robe and wet dripping hair.  "What happened?"

                Wordlessly, Han gestured to the holonet.

                "Oh, gods," the princess said.  Her wet hair temporarily forgotten, she reached for the comm unit.  The holonet was showing the MedCenter where Luke was being treated, completely surrounded with shouting crowds.  Some yelling for the Jedi's blood, as was one of the men the reporter was asking.

                "Yes," she said to the small holo of some government flunky, assigned as an aide to her for the week.  "This is President Organa Solo.  I want the latest information on the Jedi Master's status.

                She listened for a minute, then spoke again.  "Cosmic Balance?  That is a Bakuran religion, is it not?  Of course, that's why they went after him.  Cosmic Balance hates all Jedi.  All right, my husband and I need immediate transportation to my brother's MedCenter."  She could feel Han at her back, but it didn't keep the blood rushing from her face.  Her brother, supposedly safe, was under attack?  How had anyone learned where he was?

                "I'm sorry, Madame President, but we won't be able to get you in there now.  It's too dangerous."

                Leia wanted to yell at the young man, but knew it wouldn't help.  "Fine.  Organa Solo out."  She turned to Han.  "They won't get us in.  But we have to get there, Han.  Luke's in trouble."

                Han tried to give her his infamous Solo grin, but he knew she didn't really notice it.  "Don't worry.  Go get dressed, and if we have to, we'll land the _Falcon_ on top of that MedCenter."

                Leia glanced at him oddly.  "You really are planning to do that, aren't you?  You're going to park the _Falcon_ up there."

                "Hey, sweetheart, if it sounds good, it'll prob'ly work."

                Meanwhile, Talon Karrde had the same idea.  He and Mara needed an escape route, and if Aves would bring the _Skifter_…he could land on the top of the MedCenter.  He and Mara would be able to get away from here.  He'd make sure Aves had a hyperspace already planned, and when they dropped out of lightspeed, they'd change their automatic responder to another name, jump again, then home, in the _Katana._  He fingered his comlink.

                Mara found that she had been staring at Luke for what seemed several minutes, but could only have been a few seconds.  There was an incessant beeping from her jacket pocket, and she pulled out the comlink and attacked it to her collar.

                "Arica here," she said, her voice hushed.

                "Arica, it's Kris.  We've got to leave."  Kris was the name Karrde was using on this trip.

                "I need more time," she said.

"We don't have time.  The _Skif_'s comin' for us.  Head on up."

                "Kris—"

                "No time, Arica.  Up.  Now.  That's an order."

                Mara heard the beep from the comlink, signaling Karrde had cut the communication.  Head up?  To the roof, of course.  Why hadn't she thought of that?  But she needed more time.

                Karrde wouldn't give her that time.

                And those Cosmic Balance people…they were coming closer.  If she left now, then she left Skywalker in danger.  She'd have to hope the Balance extremists wouldn't find him, and that he'd be able to overcome this latest roadblock on his own.

                Skywalker had mentioned something about physical contact with healing…she pulled off her thin black gloves and placed both her hands on his bare chest and _pulled._

                She leaned over him, her eyes tightly closed, concentrating.  She could feel beads of sweat on her forehead.  Damn it, she wasn't _strong_ enough!  But she couldn't let the Balance followers win…she slipped further into the Force, and leaved further over him.  She pulled, harder and harder.

                She barely noticed it when her lips touched his, but as soon as that happened, she got her grip on him and _yanked_.  Pain lanced through her body and she realized she was feeling his momentary pain and panic.  She opened her eyes, with what seemed a lot of effort.

                Two blue eyes stared at her, widened in surprise.

                She pulled away, breaking the kiss.  His eyes fluttered closed, and he groaned.  His skin was flushed, but the color and heat coming back into his face was a warm welcome.

                She nearly collapsed in the chair.  Gods, she was exhausted, but she tentatively reached out towards him, and was nearly engulfed with the warm light that signified him in the Force.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX 

                As soon as it completely hit her brain that he was all right, Mara slumped down in the straight-backed chair.  Her energy had seemed to abandon her, and she tried to stand up.  It took her two tries before she stood up completely straight.  Her small light blaster on her left arm seemed to be too heavy, but she took a few seconds to try and regain some strength, and then walked to the door.

                She opened it cautiously, and closed the heavy door behind her.  There seemed to be hardly anyone in the halls, and she proceeded quickly through the hallway.  Easily enough, she found a turbolift, and belatedly realized that a lockdown had been implemented.  She tried to hide the disgust she felt.  Only doctors and druids with Security access codes higher than Level B would be able to use the turbolifts.  The lockdown lessened the chance that someone—terrorists—could utilize the lifts.  It would have been child's play to hack into the Security system, but Mara knew she needed to get to the roof as soon as possible.   That left her the stairs.

                About ten meters away from the lift she found the door leading to the old-fashioned railed stairs.  She hit the control panel and the door slid open.  Sure enough, she was only on Level Six.  The MedCenter was ten stories.  She began to run up the stairs.

                Talon Karrde hid behind the momentary shelter he'd found.  He had commed Mara at least seven or eight minutes previous to this, but she had yet to appear.  Aves should be piloting the _Skifter_ to this roof any second now, but if Jade didn't show…he couldn't risk the rest of his crew.  He hated to have to do that, but if Mara didn't turn up in time, she'd be left behind.  Most likely she'd find another way out (he'd learned to never underestimate the former Emperor's Han) and then he'd send another ship back for her.  He still didn't like the second scenario, though.

                He could hear the whines of blaster far below him, and he placed a hand on his own BlasTech.  Not many had paid him any attention as he ascended to the roof, and he had discarded the worker's uniform a few steps back.  He kept the flesh-colored gloves on, per Jade's orders.  She told him to never keep his eyes focused on anything for more than two seconds at a time, and to always wear the gloves.  His shoes were cheap and easy to discard; his clothes covered with oils from other ships, and his face was partially covered by the cap.  His goatee was dyed a greyish brown, which also masked his own DNA.  Mara Jade had come prepared for everything.

                The blaster shots seemed to be getting closer, and he could feel the general restlessness of the crowd.  Then he heard the door behind him slide open.  He spun, hand on his blaster, ready to draw.

                Mara found she had some Force reserves left, and she used them to keep her face disguised.  It was a trick Skywalker had used, to slightly change her facial characteristics until they were easily forgotten.  She had been using this guise since she'd entered the MedCenter, and although it had taken some energy and concentration on her part, she knew she had to keep it up.  She rounded the stairs towards the ninth floor, and the door opened.

                She ran towards the other side of the stairwell and pulled her small blaster.  At the same second as the lightweight weapon reached her hand, she felt a blast of energy pierce her left leg, and she dropped to the ground.  The guard was aiming for another wounding blow, but she shot the blaster right out of his hands.  She then shot again, deliberately missing him but burning a hole in the control pad.  The door slammed shut, and the guard was suddenly cut off from her.  She tried to put weight on her left leg, and managed to limp up the rest of the stairs.  She didn't know whether to completely drop her facial disguise in order to finish making it upstairs, when she pushed against the door to the roof.

                Karrde spun towards her, and she nearly fell to the ground.  The pain in her leg flared up.  He grabbed her before she could hit the ground. 

                "What happened?" Talon demanded.  Mara aimed her small blaster and fried the control panel for the door.  It wouldn't take much for the Guardsmen to blast it open, but it might delay them a few precious moments.

                "Met some…guy on the stairs," Mara said.  "Assholes shot to maim, not to stun."

                She could feel a vibration in the air, and she looked up.  Karrde examined the blaster bolt wound on her leg.

                "You'll need bacta for this, Mara.  He got you good."

                "Yeah, well, we'll worry about that once we get out of here," she said between clenched teeth.

                She heard pounding on the door, and then a voice yell out something.  She also noticed a sound that almost made her stop breathing.  The easily recognizable X-wings.  And almost covering their sounds was a larger ship, one she recognized as the _Skifter._

                Karrde helped Mara to her feet, and then dipped his shoulder for her to lean against.  They half-ran, half-limped to the descending freighter.  The X-wings were still in the distance, but closing the gap quickly.

                As soon as they reached the already lowered ramp, Karrde tried to push her up towards one of the crew members, and then pulled himself up.  He hit the controls to close the ramp.

                "Go!" he yelled.  "Get us out of here!"

                Mara pulled herself up against a bulkhead and tried to push herself up on her one good leg.

                "Mara, stay back here.  That's an order, Jade," he added, before she could argue.

                The ship accelerated, and Mara tried to find something to hold onto.  Karrde rushed to the bridge of the ship.  The youth who'd helped her up pulled her to one of the nearby rooms, and then tried to buckle her in with the safety restraints.  She buckled herself in, and told the boy to do the same.

                The freighter jerked and shuddered under the combined blasts from the X-wings.  Mara thanked whatever gods the X-wings had no ion cannons to disable all the electrical systems.

                They cleared the atmosphere, and Mara wanted to curse that she couldn't see the battle.  She could help if she was up there.  Instead, Karrde orders her to stay in the back, like this young boy.

                She hadn't even looked at her leg yet, but the cauterized wound was worse than she'd originally thought.  She hissed in pain.  It didn't look like it had hit her bone, but it got very close.  The young man looked around for a medkit, and tried to reach it without releasing the safety straps form his body.  Mara glanced at it and knew it normally would have been easy to grab it with the Force, but she was so exhausted…she barely even knew when the _Skifter_ jumped to hyperspace.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN 

                Han Solo shoved the door open to the MedCenter.  He and Leia had left the _Falcon_ back in her landing berth as soon as a Guard promised to get them inside.  Han recognized the man as one of the guards who'd been attacked by the Cosmic Balance team.

                Han made sure he kept his hand away from his blaster.  He didn't want anyone to somehow mistake him as a hostile.  He'd had enough of the crowd eyeing him like he'd jump out and kill them.

                Chances were, that was what most of these people wanted to do to Luke Skywalker.

                Once inside the relative safety of the sterilized MedCenter, Han let out a breath he hadn't even known he held.  They were inside, and Luke would be fine.  As much as Han enjoyed calling his much-younger brother-in-law "Kid," he knew Luke was strong, and he'd be all right.  That was just this kid's way.  Scare the shit out of everyone, and then heal just fine.  Granted, this time was different, and it hadn't seemed that Luke would bounce back, but Leia's sigh of relief as soon as she saw her brother changed his mind.

                They reached Luke's room with no further delay, and Leia immediately rushed to her brother's side.  Han could not believe that this was the same man who'd been on death's doorstep just hours ago.  The Jedi had color back in his face, and he seemed to be breathing much easier.  The doctors said they were keeping a close eye on him—they'd rarely even seen such an improvement in less than an hour.  Han leaned against the wall beside the door, giving his wife privacy with her brother.  The doctors encouraged her and Han to talk with Luke.  Just because he was unconscious, they said, didn't mean he couldn't hear them.  Han spun at a light tap on his shoulder.  A security guard—not the same one from before—stood there.

                "General Solo, sir."

                "Captain Solo," Han corrected, more out of habit than anything else.  He'd resigned his rank several years before.

                "Captain, Lieutenant Uroliv wanted me to come and get you.  They have four men in custody."

                Han nodded, keeping his eyes on his wife and brother-in-law.

"They wanted to see if you recognize any of them."

"In case the Cosmic Balance scenario was a fake?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right."  He followed the younger man down a series of turbolifts, and down a hall to an obviously reinforced door.  The man pushed it open, and Han walked through.

"Captain Han Solo." The dark haired woman smiled.  "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, sir."

"You needed me to see your suspects?" he asked.

She nodded briskly.  "Yes sir.  Right this way, sir."  She waked to the other wall and pressed a button.  What Han had thought was durasteel became transparent, although Han guessed those on the other side wouldn't be able to see them.

Four men sat in straight-backed metal chairs, their hands cuffed behind them, probably with stun cuffs.  All of them held their heads high, not ashamed at all of trying to kill a defenseless man.

And not one of them was familiar.  Han shook his head.

"Never seen any of them before-to my knowledge."

The woman nodded, as if she expected that.  "We also have vidcams from a stairwell, levels six, seven, eight, and nine, of two other accomplices.  We'll run through them, and you tell us.  These two both escaped in a freighter, under the name of _Skifter_.  It's highly likely that that name is fake, of course and we've got techs trying to ID it through other ways."  She had an older vidcam, a flatscreen one, and she flipped it on.

Han found himself staring at a man, clothed in oil-spattered mechanics' overalls.  He had a salt-and-pepper beard, and he watched the man, whose eyes constantly flitted back and forth, the few times they were visible from under his cap, as he ran up several flights, with no recognition.

And then the woman.  Slender, not very tall, and with wavy blonde hair pulled back.  She moved her eyes often, much like her partner, and he noticed she wore black gloves and a worn pilot's jacket on top of a nondescript flightsuit.

She reached the ninth floor, and he still had no idea who she was.  A security guard opened the door.  She ran to the other side, pulling a small hand blaster from what seemed thin air.  But the guard shot first hitting her in the leg.

"Stop!" he said, standing up.  Rewind it just a sec."  The lieutenant obeyed immediately.

"And pause it."  She paused the camera footage.

"Son of a bitch," Han muttered.   The woman—her face was different at the second the blaster bolt hit her, and he had little trouble recognizing her.  He looked closer.  Sure enough, her brown eyes had become green in that instant.

"Do you know this woman, sir?" the lieutenant asked.

"Sure do."

"Are you going to tell me, sir?"

"Not you, but your superior.  Go get him."

The woman looked more than slightly miffed, but she complied.  An older gentleman walked in, his movements distinctly military and sharp.

"Captain Solo," he said.  "I'm glad to see you are well.  I take it you recognize one of these men?"

"None of your prisoners, no.  But the two shown here," he said, gesturing towards the vidcam, "They have nothing to do with the attack."

"They ran from guards and the blonde was in possession of a weapon in a MedCenter."

"She wouldn't have used it had your guard not shot her first."

The colonel stared at Han.  "You know her, don't you?  Who is she?"

"You don't have any clue, do you?"  Han worked hard to keep the amusement he felt from reaching his voice.

The colonel sighed.  "She and her partner were good.  Both wore gloves to mask their fingerprints, and neither kept their eyes still enough for a complete retina scan.  Using film like this is not entirely accurate.  The slightest difference and we'll nab the wrong people.  He had his cap low over his face, and the goatee is probably fake—it'll be difficult if not damn near impossible to ID him.  And the woman, barely anyone even _saw_ her.  How could she walk by guards like that?  And we think she was in Luke Skywalker's room.  A guard had been knocked out, but h has no idea what hit him.  They were both good."

Han nodded.  Definitely Mara Jade and, well… maybe Talon Karrde.  The height was right for Talon, as was the build.  It wouldn't surprise him if Mara's employer had tagged along.

"Solo, do you know these people?" the colonel asked tiredly.

"They weren't there to harm, Colonel."

"That's for us to decide.  Who are they, Solo?"

"That woman may have saved Luke.  Have you even _thought_ of that?"

"She could have been there to kill him."

"She wouldn't.  Call off the pursuit of their freighter, or I'll talk to _your_ superiors."  Han turned on his heel and walked away.

Leia smiled down at her sleeping brother.  He had just been brought out of the neurological surgery, and they said there hadn't been much they had to do.  He was improving immensely, in just a few days since the Cosmic Balance attack.  Those who had been caught were arrested and their trial was set for the next week.  Luke was healing quickly, and his skin even seemed to smooth over, from where it had been burnt.

She felt someone walk up behind her, and she knew it was her husband.  Reaching for Han's hand, she smiled even more.  Everything would be all right.

He pulled on her hand, and she stood up as he led her just outside the room.  Leia could still see her brother through the open door.

"I just got some info on the _Skifter_," he said.

"What is it?" she asked.  He'd told her that whoever had been in Luke's room had it seemed, helped Luke, but he hadn't told her that he knew that person was Mara Jade.  He'd wanted rock solid proof before that, since he knew Leia would not want to hear that the ex-Emperor's Hand would be that near to her brother.

"I had a friend of mine trace the name.  It was traced back to a couple of different names, then to the _Katana_, then she couldn't find any more."

"_Katana?_  Who owns that ship?"

"Talon Karrde."

"That's one of Talon's ships?  That was him?" she asked in disbelief.  "Why come in here like that—Who was the woman?" she interrupted herself.

"Mara Jade."

"Impossible."

"Leia, it _was_ her."

"Then why did she come here?"

"Luke _is_ her friend."  Han was not very surprised at his wife's reaction.  She simply disliked Mara Jade, and refused to trust her with much.  Han found that he could trust Mara, especially since the attempted kidnapping of his children years ago.  He wasn't quite sure why Leia didn't add that in during her evaluations of the woman.  Then again, Leia was overprotective of her brother, and didn't want the brash but beautiful Trader to hurt him.

"She would have killed him."

"She healed him."

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"Think about it, Leia.  Luke was in bad shape.  The docs didn't have much of a hope in him.  She comes, and he's fine afterwards."

Leia looked back towards her brother.  "Impossible."

"Possible," Han corrected softly.  "And true."

"Do you think he know?"

"I'd bet on it.  I don't know much about all this Force stuff, but I'd bet he already knows."__


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT 

                "Pass me that welder, Vandis."

Mara caught the tossed tool.  She leaned back into the service room in the _Jade's Fire._  Her ship had a slight engine malfunction.  Minor damage, easily fixable, but also effectively grounded the ship until repairs could be made.  She welded the two metal plates together, and finally decided that they were satisfactorily fused together.  Climbing out of the below-the-deck room, she nearly ran into Vandis.

The fair-haired Vandis smiled and backed up a few steps. 

"You know, you can go out to the city.  You don't have to spend all your time out here.  I can fix my own ship."  Mara placed the welder back and grabbed a cloth to wipe off some of the oil on her hands.

"I'm stayin' for two reasons," the other woman said.  "Number one, you'd prob'ly leave without me.  The other is that Karrde would prob'ly make me do runs out to the Outer Rim the rest of my career.  He told me to stay and watch you.  Make sure you didn't work to hard and undo the bacta therapy."

"I'm fine."

"If that blaster bolt had gotten any closer to your bone, they'd probably have had to replace the _entire_ bone, Captain."

"So?  It didn't, and I'm fine."

"Sure, Captain Jade.  But I have my orders, nonetheless."

Mara rolled her green eyes.  "Just get out of here.  You're bugging me."

"Captain…"

"Do I have to threaten you?" Jade asked.

"No, Captain."

"I promise Karrde will never know, and I won't leave without you."

Vandis watched the younger woman warily.  Although Mara had never left her behind before, she'd threatened plenty of times.  Usually, Mara assumed most crews would have taken it as sardonic humor, but with her, they treated her like a Corellian sand panther.  Any threat she made, and they jumped.

"Get out of here, Vandis.  I'm going to take a shower, and get some sleep.  I expect you to be gone by the time I get to the refresher."

Several minutes later, Vandis left the ship, with a pocketful of Republic credits, probably to spend on her favorite pastime—gambling.

"Gods that was annoying," Mara muttered.  She had no intention to get a shower yet; the _Fire_ still needed some work, but she didn't want some older woman staring over her shoulder the whole time.  She was fine; the bacta therapy had helped, and her leg was almost as good as new.  She had one more session once she got back to Karrde's base.  Until then, she made do with a slight limp.  It was hardly noticeable, unless someone was watching her closely.  

She reopened the panel and lowered herself back into it again.  Karrde had been bothering her since she came back with him from Coruscant.  As soon as was possible, he had her dunked in bacta.  He constantly asked her what had happened between sessions, but she didn't answer much.  She was still surprised she had been able to help Luke.  It had taken so much for her to do all that.  Now, two weeks after all that, even now she felt a very little hesitation whenever she summoned the Force for anything.  But it wasn't bad.

Every night she found it difficult to sleep.  Every night, she was tempted to reach out with the Force and just _touch _him, see how he was doing.  When she had kissed him…she hadn't meant to.  It just happened.  But his eyes had opened.

Had he been awake, somehow?  Did he know who had been there, or did it seem like a hallucination to him?

"Hello, Mara."

Mara spun around.  There, just outside the room above, was Luke Skywalker.

"Skywalker," she said, forcing a smile.  "Hi.  Didn't know you were onplanet."   She wanted to at least pretend to be angry that he'd come onboard without her permission—or knowledge.

"Just arrived."  He leaned down and offered her a hand up.  She took it, and he helped her out of the hole.  She stood up.

"I heard you ran into some trouble," she said.  "I see that it's not true, once again."

Luke groaned inside.  So she was going to feign ignorance.  "Oh, I did run into trouble.  They had to completely reconstruct my nerve paths."

"And how long did that take?"

"Not very long.  Two weeks altogether, with the burns, and the broken bones, and everything else."

She ran an appraising eye over him.  "Two weeks?  You look like you don't even have scars."

"I healed very quickly."

"Obviously."  She glanced around, and found the oil-covered rag from before.  She walked over to it, and then looked back at Skywalker.  He had a concerned look on his face.

"You're limping," he said.

"No I'm not."  It was a knee-jerk reaction: deny any weakness.

"Yeah, you were.  I could tell.  Just a little bit, but you were.  Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Skywalker.  It was just a little thing that happened.  Trading run."

"You always find trouble on trading runs?"

"Do you always find trouble on you New Rep mercy missions?" the redhead countered.

"I guess I do," he admitted.  "It's hard not to."

"Yeah, I know.  You attract hopeless causes and just plain trouble."

"Sure do.  So, what happened to your leg again?  What run were you on that turned hostile?"

"It was nothing, really.  In a few days, you won't even be able to tell I was hurt in the first place."

There was a long pause, and then Luke stepped closer to her.  His blue eyes caught hers, and she wasn't sure she could voluntarily look away from the intense look in his eyes.  He stepped even closer.

"I wanted to thank you," he said softly.

She licked her lips to moisten them.  Her mouth was completely dry.

"For what?"

"You know," he said.  "I knew it was you the whole time."  He lifted his hand—his left one, his real one—and gently caressed her cheek.  She was tempted to lean into him, but dismissed it.  She stepped back abruptly, and nearly fell when her left leg buckled.  He caught her easily.

"What happened to your leg?" he asked, his voice as soft as it had been before.  "I can tell, whatever it is, it's still healing.  You should rest off it for a while."

"I've got work to do," she muttered, and tried half-heartedly to pull away from him.  She was caught in momentary surprise when she saw his lips descend on hers, and he kissed her softly.  Before he could pull away, she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Finally pulling away, he smiled at her.

"Thanks for saving me, Mara."

"No problem.  You've saved me in more ways, Luke."  She pulled him close again, gazing into his deep blue eyes.

*~*~*~*Author's Note: I hope all you readers enjoyed this.  I had fun writing it, and it's always good to know people had fun reading it.  I know in the disclaimer I say something about Corran Horn.  My original draft did include Corran, but I just didn't put him in this time.  I promise to next time, though, for all the loyal Corran Horn fans out there.  I'm thinking about doing another Mara/Luke fic.  Do you guys think I should?  If so, any suggestions?  I have one, but if you can come up with something better, I'm up for suggestions.  May the Force be with you all*~*~*~*


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